Butterflies in Singapore have decreased in both number and variety since the 1980s but conservation efforts launched in recent years have managed to partly stem the loss.
Excluding new butterfly species, some 117 are now believed to be extinct; there have been no reliable observations of them for at least the past two decades.

A comparison with past recorded checklists shows there are now 306 species, down from 386 in the 1950s to 1980s.
Citing these figures, butterfly expert Khew Sin Khoon, who is also an honorary research affiliate at the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, said the trend was mainly due to the loss of habitats.

"Butterflies are tightly correlated with plants, and as Singapore developed, the habitats that they prefer may have been destroyed... Some of the caterpillar host plants may have (also) gone extinct," he said.

It is not known when the sharpest decline in the number of butterfly species took place but Mr Khew said the peak of development occurred in the 1970s and 1980s when tracts of land were cleared to make way for new homes.

Ecologist Anuj Jain, 29, said that over the years, developments around forests have resulted in what he calls "fragmented forests".

"If the forest is big, you have a bigger interior but if you have smaller forests, it means there are more areas for light exposure," said Mr Anuj, who heads the Butterfly Interest Group at Nature Society of Singapore (NSS). "Although some species are adaptable to light conditions, most butterflies like to hide in darker areas."

More recently, the increased fumigation in residential areas is also threatening butterflies and caterpillars, said Mr Khew.

A National Environment Agency spokesman, however, said that while fogging could have some impact on other non-target insect species, a pragmatic and balanced approach that prioritises human life in outbreak situations should be adopted. "Insecticide use should be reduced during non-epidemic periods in order to prevent the development of resistance and minimise the impact on other species," he added.

The decline in the number of butterflies is keenly felt by butterfly enthusiast and expert Steven Neo, 63, who started catching butterflies when he was still in school. He recalled the days when he was living in a kampung in Lorong Chuan that was surrounded by forests.

"Back then, when there was more greenery, butterflies can be found in every corner... Now the parks are well manicured but the variety is very much reduced," said Mr Neo, who is semi-retired and works as a property manager.

However, there have been measures to conserve Singapore's biodiversity over the years. The National Parks Board (NParks) has partnered the community to develop community gardens and butterfly trails.

For example, the agency was one of the partners which supported NSS when it launched the Butterfly Trail at Orchard project in 2010.

The 4km trail stretches from the Singapore Botanic Gardens to Fort Canning Park. The initiative has borne fruit since its launch as the number of butterfly species spotted along the trail has increased from 20 to 62.

Dr Geoffrey Davison, the covering director of the National Biodiversity Centre at NParks, said Singapore's butterfly diversity compares favourably with countries like France which has 250 species.

Sentosa Development Corporation started an initiative in 2006 where more than 20 wildflower species were reintroduced to other parts of the island.

"Some of these wildflowers are important nectar plants for butterflies," said Ms Grace Lee, environment management director of Sentosa Leisure Management.

However, Mr Anuj feels that conservation is more than just increasing the number of butterfly species. Such efforts should instead work towards targeting butterflies that are threatened.

Butterfly enthusiast Samuel Liu, 25, feels that keeping nature reserves "as they are" would help to protect more butterflies in the forest areas.

"If some species go missing, it will affect the balance of the ecosystem. It would be sad if we lose them."

BACKGROUND STORY

Price of development

"Butterflies are tightly correlated with plants, and as Singapore developed, the habitats that they prefer may have been destroyed... Some of the caterpillar host plants may have (also) gone extinct."

SINGAPORE: Residents in Kembangan-Chai Chee can look forward to a new community deck that improves accessibility in 2015.

There will also be additional seating spaces and greenery, as well as a rain garden that improves water quality.

These are some of the enhancements that residents will get to enjoy when the Siglap Canal undergoes a makeover under the PUB's Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters Programme.
Acting Minister for Manpower and Member of Parliament (MP) for Marine Parade GRC Tan Chuan-Jin was at the groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday evening.

The 3.2km Siglap Canal runs between Bedok Reservoir Road and the sea, and passes through estates like Kembangan, Telok Kurau and Marine Parade.

PUB will build a deck over the canal to improve residents' access to the community club, providing a plaza where community activities such as line dancing and taiji can be carried out.

Further upstream, PUB is also partnering Telok Kurau Primary School to introduce ABC Waters design features such as a rain garden and roof garden, as well as a detention tank within the school compound.

Rain and roof gardens serve to cleanse stormwater runoff before it is discharged into the waterway, while the detention tank slows down surface runoff and reduces the peak flow of stormwater into the public drainage system.

The project creates an outdoor learning experience for the students as they gain a deeper understanding on how a holistic stormwater design concept can be incorporated into developments.

Mr Tan said: “I think as Singapore develops, what we are doing with NParks and PUB, I think, is significantly important because it makes the space a lot more liveable and water adds to a very different dimension to the place.”

SINGAPORE – A community deck to improve accessibility, additional seating spaces and greenery, as well as a rain garden to improve water quality. These are some of the enhancements residents can look forward to when the 3.2km Siglap Canal undergoes a makeover under the PUB’s Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters (ABC Waters) Programme.

At a 150-metre section next to the Kampong Kembangan Community Club, PUB will deck over the canal to improve residents’ access to the community club. ABC Waters design features such as a rain garden will also be added to treat stormwater runoff before it is discharged into the waterway, improving water quality in the canal while beautifying the surrounding landscape and enhancing biodiversity.

Acting Minister for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin and Adviser for Marine Parade GRC officiated at the groundbreaking ceremony for the project this evening (Oct 19).

PUB is also partnering Telok Kurau Primary School to introduce ABC Waters design features like a rain garden and a roof garden, as well as a detention tank within the school compound.

Both projects will be completed by end 2015.

Mr Tan Nguan Sen, PUB’s Director of Catchment and Waterways, sai: “Through the projects at Kampong Kembangan Community Club and Telok Kurau Primary School, we hope to enhance the quality of the living environment, promote community bonding and bring residents and students closer to the waters so that they can better appreciate and cherish this resource.”

The ABC Waters Programme was launched in April 2006 to transform Singapore’s water bodies. Over 100 potential locations have been identified over the next 20 years. As of last month, 22 projects have been completed, with an additional 21 ABC Waters certified projects completed by other public agencies and private developers. At least 20 projects will commence in the next five years.

Siglap Canal to become a place to hang out
Linette Lai And Goh Chin Lian Straits Times 20 Oct 13;

Siglap Canal will be a greener, more beautiful waterway by 2015.

Parts of the 3.2km-long canal will undergo a makeover, with enhancements such as a community deck and rain gardens.

A 150m section next to the Kampong Kembangan Community Club will be decked over, providing a space for activities such as line-dancing and taiji.

Upstream, national water agency PUB will work with Telok Kurau Primary School to design a rain garden and a rooftop garden. These help to clean stormwater runoff before it is discharged into the canal.

It is also building a detention tank, which will help to reduce the peak flow of stormwater into the drainage system.

These new features were unveiled at yesterday's groundbreaking ceremony for the project, which was attended by four of the five MPs for Marine Parade GRC including Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin, who was guest of honour.

PUB director of catchment and waterways Tan Nguan Sen said he hopes the enhancements will bring residents in the area together.

"Through the projects... we hope to enhance the quality of the living environment, promote community bonding, and bring residents and students closer to the waters, so that they can better appreciate and cherish this resource," he said.

Siglap Canal runs between Bedok Reservoir Road and the sea off East Coast beach.

Along the way, it passes through estates like Kembangan, Telok Kurau and Marine Parade.

The canal's new look is part of the PUB's Active, Beautiful, Clean (ABC) Waters Programme, which aims to beautify Singapore's water bodies.

Acting Manpower Minister Mr Tan said the new project would make the area more livable. "Water adds a different dimension to the place," he added. "It's quite exciting there (and) it's something we're looking forward to."

FOREST JEWELS: Environmental groups often champion the preservation of other species of fauna, but experts say certain species of frogs and toads that are endangered need protection, too, writes Suzanna Pillay

TRAIPSING through the jungle in search of a lost frog species might seem like a lost cause to most people, but to postgraduate student Ong Jia Jet, it is a worthy passion.

In June 2011, Ong, who is pursing a masters in herpetology, was a member of a small expedition, funded by Shell Chair and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak's (Unimas) Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, that rediscovered the rare Bornean Rainbow Toad (Ansonia latidisca), an amphibian not seen since 1924.

The rediscovery of the species at the higher elevations of Gunung Penrissen in Western Sarawak attracted worldwide interest and was a triumph for the expedition, which managed to snap the first-ever photograph of the toad.
Prior to the rediscovery, the only clues to the toad's appearance were illustrations by early European explorers. Also known as the Sambas Stream Toad, it was listed as one of the "World's Top 10 Most Wanted Lost Frogs" in a 2010 campaign by Conservation International and International Union for Conservation of Nature Amphibian Specialist Group, with support from Global Wildlife Conservation.

"The Search For Lost Frogs" campaign encouraged scientists worldwide to search for 100 threatened amphibian species not seen for decades.

"During my three-month internship with Unimas' Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation in 2011, I joined the research team, led by my supervisor, Professor Indraneil Das, to search for this lost frog.

"Initial searches for the Bornean Rainbow Toad had been fruitless. Then, one lucky night while we were exploring the higher elevations of Gunung Penrissen above 1,000 feet, with one of Das' graduate students, Pui Yong Min, we rediscovered three of them on three mature trees near the forest trails."

Intrigued by the find, Ong wanted to know more about the little-known tree-dwelling toad.
"How could a toad that had been missing for so many years reappear?"

He applied to London-based Rufford Small Grant for Nature Conservation for a grant to study the toad further and was successful.

For the past year, Ong has been busy with fieldwork, investigating the ecology of toads in their natural habitat.

Having completed his study, he is working on a thesis and describes the results from his fieldwork as being very encouraging.

"Information on the natural history of the toad is totally new to science. It adds to the limited knowledge of anuran amphibians (frogs and toads) in Borneo.

"To date, we have good data on what they eat and where they are distributed along the jungle trails.

"A tiny population of the Rainbow Toad still exist in the upper range of Gunung Penrissen. Their primary diet consists mainly of ants and beetles."

Another major achievement of his study, Ong added, was the world's first recording of the toad's call.

"Each species of toads and frogs has its own distinct calling patterns. Only the males make these calls."

Ong said the study had shown that the arboreal species survived only in the unprotected primary forest of the Penrissen range vulnerable to logging.

"We are not sure about the exact population size, but we are certain that the species is not widespread and has to be protected.

"I hope that important sites or the known localities of the species can be effectively preserved."

In the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, the Rainbow Toad is listed as endangered because of habitat loss and threats from forest fragmentation.

Ong said logging had ceased in the upper part of the Penrissen range, but the current threat to the toad's survival is land conversion for recreational use and illegal wildlife trade for exotic species.

"I refrain from divulging the exact site where I had discovered the population, owing to the intense demand for brightly-coloured amphibians by those involved in the pet trade.

"The Rainbow Toad is vulnerable to the illegal wildlife trade for exotic species."
Like his student, Das enjoys working with frogs and toads and enjoys highlighting their diversity in Sarawak and Borneo.

"Kubah National Park, for instance, is such an important study research area for frogs because about 56 species of amphibians are now known to exist here. A specific site -- the "Frog Pond" -- is the breeding site of at least 16 of these species, all of which can be seen easily."

An interesting frog species that Das co-discovered in the national park in 2010 with German researcher Dr Alexander Haas from the Biozentrum Grindel und Zoologisches Museum of Hamburg was the micro-sized Matang Narrow Mouthed Frog (Microhyla nepenthicola), which breeds within Nepenthes ampullaria pitcher plants.

"We made the discovery by accident. We heard the calls of an unknown frog and were drawn to a pitcher plant along the way. The tiny frog's call sound is similar to running your finger over the teeth of a comb.

"We were very surprised to discover the tiny species thriving in a plant that contains fluid for digestion. In this case, the pitchers contain very weak acid and can be inhabited by the tadpoles produced by the micro-sized frogs.

"Considered as one of the smallest frogs in the world, the adult males of this species range in size between 10.6mm to 12.8mm long and are described as being no bigger than a pea."

In April, the Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation and Sarawak Forestry Corporation co-organised The Bornean Frog Race, an event that coincided with the annual world "Save The Frogs Day".

Open to the public, it included talks on amphibians and their conservation, in addition to exhibits of sights and sounds, and a photography competition. It was the second time that the event was held in the state.

"Amphibians, for their dual requirement of both clean water and intact forests, make themselves suitable surrogates of tropical biodiversity and useful indicators of the health of the environment," said Das.

"If one of these two elements are missing from an environment, chances are that frog species, too, would not be present.

"Creation of protected areas, such as national parks like Kubah, is perhaps the best way to protect amphibian species whose survival is particularly threatened by habitat destruction.

"Rates of deforestation are high in Borneo, the major driver being logging for hardwood and land clearing for oil-palm plantations and urbanisation. During the dry season, many forests are prone to fire that are accidentally started or by settlers to clear vegetation for agricultural purposes.

"Haze probably affects the frogs negatively, but we have no data that supports this. Many chemical particles in the environment are bad for species with sensitive skin, such as frogs."